Not long after the Civil War ended in 1865, veterans began to form organizations through which they could stay in touch with fellow soldiers, memorialize their efforts -- for the Union or for the Confederacy -- and advocate for benefits and other rights for veterans.
Among the most influential group was the Grand Army of the Republic, founded on April 6, 1866 in Decatur, Illinois. The group supported the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and hence of Union, as well as supporting Reconstruction efforts, including voting rights for black veterans. By 1890, the group had 490,000 members. Among its activities were annual encampments -- both nationally and locally.
On September 8, 1929, Elise Fellows White, a native of Skowhegan who was then living in Portland, wrote in her journal:
Portland is full of old soldiers. The Grand Army of the Republic is holding one of their encampments here. A trainload of five hundred came in today from Portland, Oregon. As we drove down Congress Street we saw the blue coats with medals and the broad brimmed hats and gray heads. They all carry themselves with great dignity. My mother remarked how we miss poor Uncle Charlie. He would have been here.
These soldiers have a characteristic expression. Sargent’s portrait of General Chamberlain shows it. The picture of the veteran with the empty sleeve shows it: eyes large, rather hollow-set, with drooping lids and a look of deep sadness. Well, we shall hear the "doings," speeches, etc. over the radio, and they will be good.
Grand Army of the Republic, Frank Hunter Post, ca. 1910
Item Contributed by
Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum
The group's last national encampment was in 1949. When the last Civil War veteran died in 1956, the GAR was dissolved. Two new groups carried on much of the cause: Daughters of Union Veterans and Sons of Union Veterans. The Daughters began in 1885 in Ohio. The GAR itself formed the Sons group in 1881 and designated it as its successor before the last Union veteran died. The early group served as a militia, but by 1904, the Sons became an educational and patriotic society.
The first national Confederate veterans organization was the United Confederate Veterans Association, formed in 1889 to aid widows, orphans and needy Confederate veterans, as well as to preserve relics and records of Confederate soldiers. Like the GAR, the UCVA sponsored reunions and was organized in military fashion. Its last reunion was in 1951.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans was formed in 1896 and the United Daughters of the Confederacy began in 1894.
The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States was founded by three Union Army officers who feared threats to the fragile national government after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865. Thousands of Union Civil War officers joined. The membership later comprised descendants of officers.
Other veterans groups have included the the Union Veterans' Union and the National Association of Nurses of the Civil War.
A number of groups descended from these veterans' organizations still exist as educational and patriotic groups.
In addition to the organizations that brought together veterans from all regiments were the regimental units themselves, many of which held reunions at least annually and some of which built their own halls.